Montgomery Cnty., GA v. Hamilton

Montgomery County, Georgia the County appeals from the trial court’s denial of its motion for summary judgment, as well as the court’s grant of summary judgment against it in this class-action lawsuit seeking a tax refund on behalf of S. Keith Hamilton and similarly situated taxpayers residing in the unincorporated area of the County the unincorporated area. Specifically, Hamilton sought a refund of Insurance Premium Tax proceeds IPTP that he alleged were used unlawfully by the County to fund certain convenience centers for the purpose of collecting and disposing of solid waste. On appeal, the County argues that the trial court erred in holding that its use of IPTP to pay the operating costs of the convenience centers was unauthorized under OCGA § 33-8-8.3, in ordering the County to refund those proceeds to Hamilton and the other class members collectively, the plaintiffs, and by including its expenditure of IPTP from tax years 2006 through 2009 in the total amount of the awarded refund. For the reasons set forth infra, we reverse the trial court’s grant of summary judgment to the plaintiffs and remand the case for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.

The material facts underlying this appeal are undisputed.1 Since 1998, the County has funded, staffed, and maintained five convenience centers,2 which are located in the unincorporated area of the County and used for the purpose of collecting and disposing of solid waste. Thereafter, the County did not collect garbage or solid waste from the curbside of any residence or from the site of any property located in the unincorporated area. In fact, the County required the residents of that area to bring their trash to one of the five convenience centers for disposal. However, the County allowed anyone wishing to dispose of trash to use the centers. In 2005, the County began using IPTP to offset the cost of staffing and operating the convenience centers. Specifically, for the tax years of 2006 through 2014, the County spent the following amounts of IPTP in connection with operating the centers: